NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Makes First-Ever Powered Flight on Another Planet

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Engineers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have successfully launched the Ingenuity helicopter from Mars's surface, the first controlled, powered flight conducted on another planet.
Sputnik

NASA confirmed the successful flight during a live broadcast at 10:52 GMT, when data from the flight, which was conducted roughly three hours earlier, arrived back on Earth.

The Ingenuity helicopter was launched from the Perseverance rover. The 4-pound rotorcraft successfully hovered at 10 feet above Mars' surface for roughly 30 seconds.

The first photo, made by the helicopter, was posted by NASA, depicting Ingenuity's own shadow.

The helicopter was carried by the Perseverance rover, which landed on the red planet back in February. The mission is intended to search for evidence of ancient microbial life, analyse Martian rocks, and research the landscape, providing important information for future launches bound for Mars.

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